Honolulu Advertiser reporters Wanda Adams and Will Hoover wanted to know what songs every Hawai‘i resident should know in order to take part in kani ka pila singalongs. This survey was conducted informally. It is not scientific. Yet there is a lot we can learn from this.

Although Adams and Hoover did produce one Top Ten list, they also compiled four additional lists to reflect the clustering that was going on within the range of responses they received. Thus the article makes a good point that no one list is going to be sufficient to cover all bases. The “Baby Boomer” list in the fourth column is an example of what could happen if your survey sample is unevenly weighted with baby boomers who still groove to those 1970s hits. The “Hapa Haole Hawai‘i” list reflects the fact that these songs are favorites in hula beginner classes, and thus they have “stickaround” power.